Earth working disc with large notches

ABSTRACT

A tillage member in the shape of a disc which has large notches which cause the disc to turn at the same speed as the forward speed of an implement to which it is attached, thereby mixing the soil instead of merely turning over the soil. In order to achieve this mixing and pulling up of the soil for incorporation purposes, the disc has an outer periphery with a concave side and a convex side. An opening in the center of the disc is provided for adapting the disc to be mounted for rotation about a generally horizontal axis. The disc has a plurality of notches in the outer periphery thereof and a plurality of projections disposed respectively between adjacent ones of the notches. The number of notches is no less than six and no more than nine and the number of projections is no less than six and no more than nine. Each of the notches also has a width at the outer periphery of the disc which is between ten and fifteen percent of the diameter of the disc. Also, the depth of each notch is approximately fifty percent of the width of each notch. Each of the projections have a width at the outer periphery of the disc and the width of each projection equals the width of each notch±ten percent of the width of each notch. The disc is also larger than most discs and has a minimum diameter of twenty-two inches and a maximum diameter of forty-two inches.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not Applicable.

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0003] Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0004] 1. Field of the Invention

[0005] The present invention relates to an earth working disc and moreparticularly to one which is designed to mix the soil rather than toturn it over.

[0006] 2. Description of Prior Art

[0007] Gangs of discs such as those shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, arecommonly used to till the soil by turning over the soil as the gang ofdiscs move forwardly along a field. Some prior art discs do not havesmall notches for the purpose of chopping corn stalks or the like, butessentially these discs work just like the discs shown in FIGS. 12 and13. These prior art discs work like an ice cream scoop which extendsunder a strip of soil and turns it over. In this prior art discstructure such as that shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, whether there are smallnotches in it or not, these discs tend to slip and create a lot offriction as it scoops up the dirt and turns it over. In other words, thediscs of the prior art do not turn at the same speed that they movethrough the soil. The notches in the prior art structures are not bigenough to force the blades to turn. Consequently there is a need for adisc blade that mixes the soil for incorporation purposes instead ofmerely turning it over.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention relates to a tillage member in the shape ofa disc which has large notches which cause the disc to turn at the samespeed as the forward speed of an implement to which it is attached,thereby mixing the soil and allowing the soil to be turned up in smallchunks, some of which may pass through the large notches instead ofturning over the soil. In order to achieve this mixing and pulling up ofthe soil for this purpose, the disc has an outer periphery with aconcave side and a convex side. An opening in the center of the disc isprovided for adapting the disc to be mounted for rotation about agenerally horizontal axis.

[0009] The disc has a plurality of notches in the outer peripherythereof and a plurality of projections disposed respectively betweenadjacent ones of the notches. The number of notches is no less than sixand no more than nine and the number of projections is no less than sixand no more than nine. Each of the notches also has a width at the outerperiphery of the disc which is between ten and fifteen percent of thediameter of the disc.

[0010] Also, the depth of each notch is approximately fifty percent ofthe width of each notch. Each of the projections have a width at theouter periphery of the disc and the width of each projection equals thewidth of each notch±ten percent of the width of each notch. The disc hasa minimum diameter of twenty-two inches and a maximum diameter offorty-two inches. In a preferred embodiment, the notch width is seveninches±one-half inch. Also in a preferred embodiment, all of theprojections are substantially identical and all of the notches aresubstantially identical.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a tillage memberwhich does a better job of mixing the soil and incorporating than priorart tillage members.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a discwhich has large notches and thereby turns at the same speed as theforward speed of an implement to which it is attached as contrasted withprior art discs that turn slower, slip and turn the soil over.

[0013] A further object of the present invention is to provide animproved disc for agricultural purposes.

[0014] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disc constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a side view of the disc of FIG. 1, showing certaindimensions thereon;

[0017]FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

[0018]FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 2 but showing other relationships ofthe disc blade;

[0019]FIG. 5 is a view like FIG. 4 but showing other relationships ofthe disc blade;

[0020]FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 5 but showing still otherrelationships;

[0021]FIG. 7 is a view of another embodiment similar to that of FIG. 6,but having seven notches and seven projections instead of six;

[0022]FIG. 8 is a view of another embodiment having eight notches andeight projections;

[0023]FIG. 9 shows another embodiment having nine projections and ninenotches therein;

[0024]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a gang of the discs shown inFIGS. 1-6 and showing how some of the soil is cut by the projections andis lifted and mixes the soil;

[0025]FIG. 11 is a view taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 10 and showinghow chunks of soil are lifted by the large projections on the discs;

[0026]FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view of a prior art gang of discsshowing how the soil is turned over as the gang of discs is pulledthrough the soil; and

[0027]FIG. 13 is a view taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numeralsdesignate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views,FIG. 1 shows a disc (10) having six projections (11) around theperiphery thereof and six notches (12) disposed between each respectiveadjacent ones of the projections (11). As shown in FIG. 2, the diameteris defined as being between two opposing projections; or, in otherwords, the diameter of the outside of the arc of the projections (11) inthe case of a disc that does not have an even number of projections.

[0029] The width of each notch is seven inches±one-half inch and ismeasured along the circumference of the diameter of the disc (10) in thecase of a disc which is primarily circular in shape. It is to beunderstood that the notches (12) and projections (11) can be of othershapes, such as a trapezoidal shape as shown in British patentspecification No. 1,110,950 to Van Der Lely, which application was filedNov. 11, 1965. The notches could be the shape shown in U.S. Pat. No.4,098,349 to Jilani issued Jul. 4, 1978 or V-shaped as shown in U.S.Pat. No. 5,620,055. It is preferable that each notch be the same shapeand that each projection be the same shape to promote uniform wear,although someone who copies this invention should not be allowed to makeminor changes and assert non-infringement.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 3, a concave side (13) and a convex side (14)of the disc (10) is shown in the cross section of FIG. 3 which alsoshows a central opening (16) so that the disc (10) can be mounted to ashaft (17) as shown in FIG. 10, for example. It does not matter whetherthe disc (10) rotates on the shaft (17) or whether all of the discs (10)rotate with the shaft (17).

[0031] Referring now to FIG. 4, it is noted that the notch width isdesignated by a letter “n” and the projection width is designated by theletter “p”. These widths are measured along the arc of the outerperipheral diameter of the disc (10). FIG. 4 also shows the depth “d” ofthe notch (12) and in the case of some exotic shape “d” would merely bethe effective depth thereof.

[0032]FIG. 5 shows the relationship of the diameter of the disc (10) andthe notch width “n”. The width of the notch needs to be between 0.10 Dto 0.15 D.

[0033] Referring now to FIG. 6, it is noted that the notch (12) islarger than prior art notches and that there is a minimum of six notchesand a maximum of nine notches. Similarly there is a minimum of sixprojections and a maximum of nine projections.

[0034]FIG. 7 shows another embodiment (70) which has seven projections(11) and seven notches (12).

[0035]FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment (80) which has eightprojections (11) and eight notches (12).

[0036]FIG. 9, similarly, is an embodiment (90) having nine projections(11) and nine notches (12).

[0037] Referring again to FIG. 10, it is noted that the discs (10) arerotatably attached to the shaft (17) and are pulled in a forwarddirection as indicated by the upper arrow. As the toolbar (21), to whichthe gang of discs (10) are attached, is pulled forwardly, the discs (10)will rotate in the direction of the arrows shown just under the toolbar(21), and as the discs (10) rotate forwardly and downwardly, they willtend not to slip because of the large notches. Note that when thenotches are in the position shown by the arrow (12) in FIG. 10 the soilpushes on the edges of that respective projection edge to force the discto turn. The pulling forward of the toolbar (21) will pull the disc (10)and the soil will effectively push on the notch (12) and projection (11)to turn the disc (10) positively. That will prevent slipping and causethe disc to rotate naturally at the same speed as the toolbar (21).

[0038]FIG. 11 shows how each large projection (11) digs up chunks ofsoil (33). This is very different than the disc (30) shown in FIGS. 12and 13 which turns over continuous slabs of soil (31). A regular disc(30), as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, will tend to slip in the groundrather than rotate at the same as the forward speed of the implement towhich it is attached. These discs (30) operate like an ice cream scoopand turn the soil (31) over in a continuous slab so that one can see thebottom thereof rather than lifting the soil and mixing it as in thepresent invention as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 13 shows cropresidue (32) on top of the soil (31) where it has not been turned over,whereas behind the discs (30) it is shown how the soil has been turnedover so that most of the residue (32) is underneath the strips of soil(31) which have been turned over, rather than mixed up and incorporatedwith the soil as in the FIGS. 10 and 11 embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0039] Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the preferred embodimentdoes indeed accomplish the aforementioned objects. Obviously manymodifications and variations of the present invention are possible inlight of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that,within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described.

1. A tillage member comprising: a disc having an outer periphery, aconcave side and a convex side; an opening in the center of said discfor adapting the disc to be mounted for rotation about a generallyhorizontal axis; said disc having a plurality of notches in the outerperiphery thereof and a plurality of projections disposed respectivelybetween adjacent ones of said notches, the number of notches being noless than 6 and no more than 9, the number of projections being no lessthan 6 and no more than 9; each of said notches having a width (n) atthe outer periphery of the disc, where (n) is between 10% and 15% of thediameter (D) of the disc; the depth (d) of each notch beingapproximately 50% of the width (n) of each notch; each of saidprojections having a width (p) at the outer periphery of the disc; thewidth (p) of each projection equals the width (n) of each notch plus orminus ten % of (n); and wherein the minimum diameter of the disc from aprojection on one side of the outer periphery of the disc to aprojection directly opposite thereto on the other side of the outerperiphery of the disc being a minimum of 22 inches and a maximum of 42inches.
 2. The tillage member of claim 1 wherein said notch width isseven inches plus or minus one half inch.
 3. The tillage member of claim1 wherein all of the projections on said disc are substantiallyidentical.
 4. The tillage member of claim 3 wherein all of the notchesin said disc are substantially identical.
 5. The tillage member of claim1 wherein all of the notches in said disc are substantially identical.6. A plurality of tillage members of claim 1 rotatably disposed in agang for tilling the soil.